New Issue: IAG FixedReset, 4.80%+275

Industrial Alliance Insurance and Financial Services Inc. has announced (emphasis from original) that it and:

PPI Management Inc. (PPI), a leading Canadian insurance marketing firm, today announced that they have reached an agreement for iA Financial Group to acquire PPI. The transaction is effective immediately.…The Company announces that it has today entered into an agreement pursuant to which a syndicate of underwriters co-led by TD Securities Inc. and National Bank Financial Inc. (the “Common Share Underwriters”) will purchase, on a bought deal basis, 2,500,000 common shares from iA Financial Group at a price of $54.10 per common share, representing aggregate gross proceeds of $135 million (the “Common Share Offering”).…Series I Preferred Share Offering
The Company announces that it today also entered into an agreement with a syndicate of underwriters co-led by TD Securities Inc. and National Bank Financial Inc. (the “Preferred Share Underwriters”), under which the Preferred Share Underwriters have agreed to buy, on a bought deal basis, 6,000,000 Non-Cumulative 5-Year Rate Reset Class A Preferred Shares Series I (the “Series I Preferred Shares”) from iA Financial Group at a price of $25.00 per Series I Preferred Share, representing aggregate gross proceeds of $150 million (the “Series I Preferred Share Offering” and, together with the Common Share Offering, the “Offerings”). iA Financial Group has also granted the Preferred Share Underwriters an option, exercisable in whole or in part at any time up to 48 hours prior to closing, to purchase up to an additional 2,000,000 Series I Preferred Shares at a price of $25.00 per share for additional aggregate gross proceeds of up to $50 million.

Holders of the Series I Preferred Shares will be entitled to receive a non-cumulative quarterly fixed dividend of $1.20 per Series I Preferred Share, yielding 4.80% per annum, as and when declared by the Board of Directors of iA Financial Group, for the initial period up to but excluding March 31, 2023. On March 31, 2023 and on March 31 every five years thereafter, the dividend rate will reset to be equal to the then current five-year Government of Canada bond yield plus 2.75%. Holders of the Series I Preferred Shares will have the right, at their option, to convert their shares into Non-Cumulative Floating Rate Class A Preferred Shares Series J (the “Series J Preferred Shares”), subject to certain conditions and the Company’s right to redeem the Series I Preferred Shares as described below, on March 31, 2023 and on March 31 every five years thereafter. Holders of the Series J Preferred Shares will be entitled to receive a quarterly non-cumulative floating rate dividend, as and when declared by the Board of Directors of iA Financial Group, equal to the 90-day Government of Canada Treasury Bill Rate plus 2.75%. Holders of the Series J Preferred Shares will have the right, at their option, to convert their shares into Series I Preferred Shares, subject to certain conditions and the Company’s right to redeem the Series J Preferred Shares as described below, on March 31, 2028 and on March 31 every five years thereafter.

The Series I Preferred Shares will not be redeemable by iA Financial Group prior to March 31, 2023. On March 31, 2023 and on March 31 every five years thereafter, iA Financial Group may, subject to certain conditions (including regulatory approval), redeem all or any part of the Series I Preferred Shares at a cash redemption price per share of $25.00 together with all declared and unpaid dividends. The Company may redeem all or any part of the Series J Preferred Shares at a cash redemption price per share of $25.00 together with all declared and unpaid dividends in the case of redemptions on March 31, 2028 and on March 31 every five years thereafter or $25.50 together with all declared and unpaid dividends in the case of redemptions on any other date after March 31, 2023.

The net proceeds of the Offerings will be used for general corporate purposes and to maintain and replenish iA Financial Group’s capital base, including after giving effect to the payment of the purchase price for the Acquisition.

On a pro forma basis, after giving effect to the Offerings (but without giving effect to any potential exercise of the over-allotment option under the Common Share Offering or the Preferred Share Underwriters’ option), the Company estimates that, as at December 31, 2017, its solvency ratio would increase by 12 percentage points, from 209% to 221%. After giving effect to the PPI acquisition completed today on February 26, 2018 (-8 percentage points) and the DAC acquisition completed earlier on January 23, 2018 (-8 percentage points), the solvency ratio would be 205%.

The Common Share Offering and the Series I Preferred Share Offering are each expected to separately close on or about March 7, 2018, subject to certain conditions, including Toronto Stock Exchange and other customary regulatory approvals. The Offerings will be made pursuant to separate prospectus supplements to iA Financial Group’s short form base shelf prospectus dated June 22, 2017, which will be filed with the Canadian securities regulatory authorities and will be available on SEDAR at www.sedar.com.

This issue isn’t all that badly priced. IAG.PR.G, the only other FixedReset issued by the company, is currently described as 3.777%+285 and will reset 2022-6-30 – prior to the reset of this new issue. It closed today at 24.15-22. You’re losing about a point in dividends every year for the four years-odd until reset on a $25.00 par value, so that’s worth a buck; this correction means the issues are reasonably close to being fairly-priced relative to each other. The yields to the Deemed Maturity 2025-1-31 are 4.88% for IAG.PR.G and 4.82% for the new issue, after accounting for resets at the current GOC-5 level.

This entry was posted on Monday, February 26th, 2018 at 11:05 pm and is filed under New Issues. You can follow any responses to this entry through the RSS 2.0 feed.
You can leave a response, or trackback from your own site.